At Least Seven Dead In Attacks On UN In Africa

At least seven people were killed and seven more wounded during two attacks on a U.N. base in Mali Monday, according to the U.N.

The U.N. says that unidentified gunmen attacked the U.N. headquarters in Timbuktu, Mali, killing security guards and at least one U.N. peacekeeper.

“An attack has been launched against one of our camps in Timbuktu (by) unknown men with machine guns,” U.N. spokeswoman Radhia Achouri said, Reuters reports.

Gunmen also attacked a U.N. camp in Douentza, about 130 miles south of Tibuktu, earlier Monday, killing one Malian soldier and a U.N. peacekeeper.

The U.N. mission in Mali, called MINUSMA, described the attack on the camp in a press release:

A first group of assailants fired at a MINUSMA camp from an adjacent hill. In reaction, the Malian armed forces, established in the vicinity of the camp, retaliated. A second group walking on foot to the other MINUSMA camp opened fire. The peacekeepers have responded and two assailants have been killed.

Islamic terrorists regularly target U.N. peacekeepers in Mali and elsewhere in West Africa, where al-Qaeda has been active for more than a decade. More than 118 peacekeepers have been killed since the U.N. set up an operation there in 2013, The Washington Post reports.

The violence is not limited to Mali. Suspected jihadists attacked a restaurant in neighboring Burkina Faso Sunday, killing 18 people. “This is a terrorist attack,” Communications Minister Remi Dandjinou said of the attack during a conference on Monday.

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